EP 0 816 610 B1 shows a motor vehicle hinge which can be used for the articulated connection of a motor vehicle door to a door frame. The motor vehicle hinge has a first hinge half made of steel which can be fastened to the door frame of the motor vehicle door and which is connected to a second hinge half, which can be fastened to the door, in an articulated manner by a hinge pin. The hinge has a locking device which releasably fixes the two hinge halves at certain pivoting angles in respect of one another, wherein the locking device has an approximately cylindrical sleeve which is attached to the hinge pin in a non-rotatable fashion. The sleeve and a brake member are introduced into hollow spaces recessed out of the solid material of the first hinge half, wherein the brake member sets preferred opening angles for the door using depressions or grooves provided on the circumference of the sleeve. The disadvantage of the known motor vehicle hinge is that in order to achieve given pivoting angles of the motor vehicle door, the sleeve must be large in size, so that the region of the first hinge half in which the sleeve is received has a large radius and is spaced correspondingly far away from the plane in which the hinge half is attached to the motor vehicle door frame. Since the hinge half is a one-piece steel body, numerous machining steps are required in order to create hollow spaces such as channels and openings which allow the integration of the locking device in the hinge half. Although the hinge half is able to withstand the forces and loads introduced by the weight of the door on account of its solid design, this requires it to have a heavy weight. During the machining of the hinge half to create the hollow spaces, a large part of the material is lost in the form of chips and therefore wastage. When the hinge is being assembled, there is a risk that the sleeve will be wrongly attached to the hinge pin, so that the recesses which define the preferred opening angles of the vehicle door are arranged at the wrong points. Finally, the fastening means of the first hinge half are provided substantially outside a plane perpendicular to the bearing plane through the hinge axis, which means that unwanted torques are created by the distance.
DE 199 53 077 A1 describes a motor vehicle hinge for connecting a motor vehicle door to a door frame, having a first and a second hinge half which can each be fastened to the motor vehicle door or to the door frame and are connected to one another in an articulated manner by a hinge pin. A locking device which releasably fixes the two hinge halves in respect of one another continuously in at least certain pivoting angles comprises a non-rotatable sleeve attached to a section of the hinge pin, the circumference of said sleeve being profiled in such a manner that a brake member acted upon by a spring member, which brake member interacts with this sleeve circumference, is deflected to differing degrees, so that a braking torque is produced which counteracts the opening of the door. If the sleeve is rotated along with the hinge pin by pivoting the door, this causes a rotation of the brake member about its axis. The disadvantage of the known vehicle hinge is the fact that the hinge half in which the locking device is arranged is configured as a one-piece solid metal part which is heavy and the hollow spaces for arranging the components of the locking device have to be machined into the tough material thereof. The machining processes involved in this are time-consuming and costly. The large sleeve diameter also makes it necessary for the hinge axis to be spaced relatively far away from the bearing plane of the hinge half on the door frame and also for the region of the hinge half in which the sleeve is received to be correspondingly large in design.
DE 10 2009 014 084 B4 describes a motor vehicle hinge in which a first hinge half is connected to a second hinge half in an articulated manner by a hinge pin, wherein the hinge halves can each be fastened to one of a motor vehicle door and a door frame. A locking device which is arranged in one of the two hinge halves comprises a sleeve arranged on the hinge pin which produces a braking force for the door along with a brake member which can be fed to the sleeve radially. The sleeve rests on the inner circumference of a cylindrical opening with a constant radius. The disadvantage of the known motor vehicle hinge is firstly its heaviness, something to which the hinge half produced from solid material with an integrated locking device contributes, into which complicated hollow spaces must also be introduced, in order to accommodate the locking device. Particularly disadvantageous is the large diameter of the hinge half in the region of the sleeve received therein, which not only produces a large extension of the hinge half but also a radial projection of the hinge half in the region of the sleeve, which is undesirable.
DE 10 2012 004 810 A1 shows a motor vehicle hinge for a side door which exhibits a first hinge half that can be fastened to a door and a second hinge half that can be fastened to a door frame. The two hinge halves are connected in an articulated manner by a hinge pin. Both the first hinge half and also the second hinge half each have a supporting structure made of a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and an insert made of plastic which can be inserted or injected into the associated supporting structure in each case in a direction parallel to the hinge axis. The insert has a receiving means for a threaded bushing; the supporting structure has an opening at the point of the receiving means for the threaded bushing. If the insert is introduced into the supporting structure, said insert is fixed in the supporting structure by means of a screw which is tightened into the threaded bushing. By tightening the screw, the first hinge part is simultaneously fastened to the vehicle body. During the injection process, the inserts may be fixed to the supporting structure in each case by means of a protecting rib. The hinge pin has fluting at one end, so that it can be fixed into a receiving means of the first hinge half in respect of rotational movements about its radial axis. The other end of the hinge half is rotatably mounted in the second hinge half. In this case, the hinge pin is only mounted on the insert of the second hinge half, so that the entire vertical force action of the hinge pin is transmitted to the insert; the hinge pin is likewise solely in contact with the insert of the first hinge half, so that a transmission of vertical forces into the supporting structure takes place indirectly at best. The hinge halves of the hinge are produced by first supplying a carbon-fiber-reinforced supporting structure which is then provided with a plastic insert.